k with William A. Eddy, of New Jersey, the father
of scientific kite-flying in this country. I wrote to young Osborne, and
sent him a copy of the _Issaquena County Weather Review_, the one with
the sunset articles and pictures in it."

"Osborne, sir!" ejaculated the editor-in-chief, "I got his subscription
just a week ago."

"Did you?" said the Forecaster, interested. "That's nice of him! He
wrote to me that he was constantly improving his kite models and that he
had a couple of old ones which he now seldom flew. He sent me their
records, too, so I know they must be good kites. He wanted to know if
the Mississippi League of the Weather wouldn't do some kite-flying and
send him records of the observations."

"Would we?" cried the enthusiastic Monroe. "I should say we would!"

"It means quite a bit of trouble," the weather expert warned them;
"scientific kite-flying needs machinery."

"Why, sir?" asked Ross. "Can't we do it by hand?"

"No," was the reply, "you can't. How would you reel the kite home? It's
a very different thing sending up a Japanese paper kite on a string a
few hundred feet in the air, and making an ascent of a couple of miles
with a weather kite. For one thing, the weather kite is flown with wire
and an especially strong kind of wire at that."

"Where will we get the wire?"

"I've advanced the money for it," the Forecaster answered, "and for the
shipment of the kites. I thought, perhaps, after a while, we might hold
a kite contest and charge an admission fee, because, as you know, I
think the League should be on a self-supporting basis. I'll render you a
bill, then, and you can pay me."

"Thanks ever so much, sir," said Ross. "That's fine. We'll do it. But
who's to have charge of the kite-flying?"

"That's your affair," the Forecaster answered. "I've nothing to do with
the inner workings of the League."

"I've been wondering," said Anton, "if Tom oughtn't to do it. He's our
wind expert."

Tom flushed with pleasure at the suggestion.

"I haven't done much on the wind stuff," he admitted; "there didn't seem
anything to do but to take measurements and things."

"I seem to remember reading them weekly in the _Review_," the Forecaster
remarked.

"Oh, I've done it all regularly enough, but it didn't seem to be of much
use," the boy said.

"You'll find that it will be of a great deal of use in the League's kite
work," the weather expert rejoined.

"I think Anton's right," put in Ross. "Han